This invention relates to stairway railings and more particularly to a freestanding portable stairway railing device. Prior railings were neither truly portable nor freestanding. The prior devices required actual connection to the stairway and were dependent upon the width of the stairway to determine the distance between the railings. Assembly and disassembly of prior devices required tools and some disfigurement to the stairway. Also, the prior stairway devices did not facilitate the ascension of a person not having the full use of both legs and supporting themselves in part with their arms, such as someone on crutches.